The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to a request made by the Uttar Pradesh government to adjourn the Lakhimpur Kheri murders and violence case hearing to November 15.
As soon as the case was called up for hearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, senior advocate Harish Salve, for the government, indicated that the case investigation was on track and the State needed time till Monday to come back to the court with the specifics.
The Bench allowed the State the weekend and posted the case on Monday.
The government was expected to respond to a suggestion from the court to appoint a retired High Court judge to monitor the investigation into the case to “infuse fairness and impartiality”.
The suggestion to have a retired judge at the helm came after the court expressed its waning confidence about the fate of the investigation at the hands of the Uttar Pradesh police.
Chief Justice Ramana said in the previous hearing, “The investigation is not going the way we expected. We are here to see that a proper investigation takes place. There is a need to appoint a retired High Court judge to monitor it without bias.”
The court has so far refused to entertain suggestions from some lawyers to order the CBI to take over from the police.
“The CBI is not the solution to everything,” Justice Surya Kant, on the Bench, had remarked.
Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Mishra, is a prime accused.
